1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to tools utilized in the construction and building trades. More specifically, the field of the invention relates to tools used to demarcate straight lines for purposes such as, for example and not by way of limitation, cutting, forming, or other construction tasks in which long lines must be temporarily marked in order to aid the construction worker in making straight lines, cuts, or other construction or building operations.
2. Background Art
Various tools and techniques for marking straight lines as may be desired by, for instance, the construction of building trades, are generally known in the art. One such tool comprises a reel of line or some similar material such as cord, disposed within a container filled with a marketing substance such as for example powdered chalk. The powdered chalk is generally of a color useful for marking such as, red blue green black or some other color that is selected to contrast the material to be marked. The material to be marked may be any construction material such as, for example, plywood, cement, concrete, brick, shingles, or any other construction material that may be encountered on a building site. Generally, the line is extracted from the real, placed in a desired position on the material to be marked, stretched taut, and snapped by gently lifting and releasing the line. When the line is snapped it leaves a linear mark by displacing some of the chalk contained on the line onto the surface to be marked. In this manner a straight line may be created which may be utilized by a user two, for example, perform a cut such as when trimming plywood or some other material during a construction operation.
The device which comprises a container, a reel containing line, and powdered chalk is known in the art as a chalk line. The line generally has a free end that may be pulled in order to extract the line from the reel. The line generally has a captured end which is attached to, for example, an axle of the reel. The free end of the line may be pulled by a worker or other person to extract the chalked line from the real so that it may be placed on a surface to be marked and snapped, leaving a desired mark. Once the marking operation is complete, the reel may be operated to retrieve the line back into the container where it may be re-coated with the powdered chalk disposed within the container. The container typically has an aperture in at least one surface so that the chalk line may be extracted from the reel, through the aperture, when the free end of the line is pulled. The aperture is generally large enough to allow the line to be extracted through the aperture by pulling on the free end of the chalk line and rotating the reel such that the line is extracted, but the aperture is generally small enough to prevent a significant amount of chalk from escaping from the container. There may be other baffles or interior features that also assist in preventing the powdered chalk from escaping the container. Generally, chalk lines are small enough to be held in the hand of a worker.
In order to assist the placement of a chalk line onto a surface to be marked and to stretch it tautly enough so that it may be snapped as described above, the free end of the chalk line may terminate in a chalk line hook. The chalk line hook typically comprises a simple bent piece of stiff material, such as metal, which is attached to the chalk line free end, and that may be placed over an edge or other retaining feature of a surface to be marked so that the chalk line may be stretched taut and disposed on the surface to be marked so that it may be snapped in order to leave a straight line to guide the construction worker in a construction operation.
One problem that is often encountered in the use of a chalk line of the prior art to place a mark on a surface to be marked arises when the desired mark is not perpendicular to the edge or other feature of the surface to be marked. In such situations, the hooks of the prior art tend to cause an offset A as shown in FIG. 1a. This offset may be caused by the displacement A that results from the configuration of the hooks of the prior art is shown in FIG. 1b. The resulting displacement A results in a marked line that is not in the desired position as indicated by dashed line C. The undesired result of the use of the chalk line hooks of the prior art is that the marked line is not exactly in the desired position and may lead to construction defects or other undesired effects. When a marked line is not placed in the desired position several negative consequences may result. First, the line may need to be rubbed out and remarked. However, when the light is remarked using the same chalk line of the prior art, the same error in marketing may occur and thus this process may need to be repeated several times. Secondly, in the instance in which the line is marking a cut to be made such as, for example, on plywood, the worker may proceed to cut along the errantly marked surface, resulting in construction errors. This may require replacement of the surface to be cut with resulting expense and loss of time. If the surface is not replaced, the construction project may be completed with errors, sometimes significant errors which may be visible and may result in an unsightly finished work product.
Typically, chalk lines are tools comprising a construction worker's toolset.
What is needed in the art, therefore, is an economic improved chalk line hook that eliminates the undesired effects of the displacement A as depicted in FIG. 1b. Such an improved chalk line hook would enable more accurate construction, fewer construction defects, reduce costs due to reduced occurrences of rework, reduced time for construction due to less rework, and other beneficial effects.